It Was Just a Dance
by Shatteredsand
Summary: A series of one shots from the perspectives of Jenna, Alaric, Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy,and others as they watch Elena dance with Damon. Everyone sees things a little differently, but some things can't be changed no matter how you try to look at them.
1. With Damon

**AN: I love writing things from the perspective of characters that don't have the full story. It's always so different than someone who knows what's going on. So this fic will be from five different POVs. Jenna, Alaric, Bonnie, Caroline, and Anna/Jeremy**

**Warning: None**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries.**

**With Damon?**

"What is she doing with Damon?" the words slip past my lips as a whisper. A better question might have been "where is Stefan?" But all I'm thinking is that Elena is dancing with her boyfriend's brother and it looks almost…intimate.

He's staring at her with an intensity I've never seen before. Stefan never looks at her like that. Stefan looks at her with love and affection and a warm need to protect her from all her hurts. Damon, Damon is looking at her with forbidden desire and conflicting emotions and a dark sense of willing to kill to save her.

Stefan is the one that should be here with Elena, his large, secure hand wrapping her delicate, slender one in its warmth and safety as they dance. Stefan is the one who should be looking at my niece like something to be protected and loved.

But it is Damon's long, graceful fingers that curl around Elena's. It's Damon that's here, his other hand strong and firm against her back as they dance. It is Damon who looks at Elena like he would die before hurting her and would kill anyone who tried.

Damon is not a good man. I can tell. The darkness that dominates his eyes, sometimes so heavily that even I can see it, comes much too easily. The subtle way he seems to exude death and pain without ever having to try. Damon is dangerous. The darker brother, shrouded in mystery.

Stefan is the better man. Calmer, sweeter, more dependable. The one who will swoop in to whisk the girl to safety, instead of the one who would slaughter the fools who sought to harm her. Stefan is safe. The white knight on his white horse, wearing his heart out on his sleeve for all the world to see.

It should be Stefan. Stefan dancing with Elena. Stefan loving Elena. Stefan saving Elena from the darkness of pain and loss with his gentle love. Stefan should be the one.

But it's Damon. It's always been Damon. Anyone watching the way they dance together can see it. Even if she doesn't know the choice is there, Elena has already decided.

It should be Stefan. Stefan makes sense.

But love doesn't make sense. Love isn't logical.

So it's Damon.


	2. No Idea

**AN: This one is from Alaric's POV. As far as I know, no one told him that Stefan was back on the good stuff, so he doesn't know why Stef isn't there. And, of course, he still hates Damon with the fiery passion of a thousand suns.**

**Warnings: Language. Alaric just looks like the kind of guy to swear in private, don't cha think?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries**

**No Idea**

"I have no idea." I answer Jenna. Because I don't have one fucking clue what Elena is doing dancing with the bastard who murdered my wife, her _mother_. But she is. She's dancing with him and staring into his eyes and smiling a little smile. It makes me sick. I am disgusted with the thought that she would even let him touch her.

Her eyes never leave his and there is something elusive dancing in their chocolate depths. What the hell could she be thinking? What on earth could make this, this _atrocity_ okay? What could he have done to make her smile at him with that unnamable emotion in her eyes?

My eyes slide down from the traitorous smile gracing her lips to the necklace around her throat. She's still wearing her vervain. Damon hasn't compelled her to do this. She's chosen to of her own free will. Damn her.

My eyes dart around the open courtyard. Where is Stefan? Why is he allowing this travesty to continue? He hates his brother nearly as much as I do. And he loves Elena far too much to watch her in the arms of another man; especially his twisted and depraved brother. So why isn't he here? Why isn't he rushing forward to pull his lover from his brother's arms? Why isn't he killing Damon for touching his girl in such an intimate manner?

The music stops and they separate. Thank god. I was this close to losing it and making a scene. She's still staring at him, though, with that stupid little smile. It makes my blood boil. And he's staring at her too. And my burning rage quickly becomes molten. Because there is _love_ shinning in his eyes.

What gives this monster the right to love anyone? What gives him the right to be happy when I can't because _he took my wife away_ from me? What gives him the right to fall in love with the daughter of the woman he killed?

Bile rises in my throat but I force it down so Jenna won't ask what's wrong. My hands find themselves clenched into tight fists. Suddenly it all slides into place. That unnamable emotion lurking in Elena's eyes as she danced with the fiend is obvious now. She loves him. She loves the beast that took every thing from me. She loves him.

Sonuvabitch…


	3. Choose

**AN: Bonnie's up. Her best friend's dancing with the man responsible, in her eye's at least, for her grandmother's death. She is **_**not**_** well pleased….**

**Warning: None**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries**

**Choose**

"Miss Elena Gilbert escorted by Mr. Stefan Salvatore." That's what the MC had claimed. But it's Damon holding Elena's hand as he guides her to their place on the dance floor. My stomach flops. Damon Salvatore, the monster that my Grams died to save. It meant nothing. Damon's damned love wasn't even in the tomb. Grams died for _nothing_.

The dance begins and Elena can't take her eyes of the vicious fiend in front of her. Their palms hover inches apart, so much closer than any of the other contestants. Small smiles pull at the corners of their lips.

No.

The dance changes and Damon wraps his murderous hand around Elena's naïve one. His other metaphorically bloodstained hand presses against her back, drawing her closer to him. And Elena goes, stepping in his eternally dark embrace. They're closer than the others still. But they don't notice. Neither of them has even as much as blinked since the dance began. Elena's warm chocolate eyes staring, lost, in Damon's icy blues.

He leads her through the steps effortlessly, more familiar with the dance than any mere mortal could ever understand. He was there when it was invented after all. Elena follows with a grace born through trust. She _trusts_ him.

Their auras flare in time together, pulsating with shared emotion. Affection, trust, intimacy, desire, _love_.

No.

Oh, god. I'm going to be sick. I don't want to see this. I don't want to _know_ this.

The dance ends and they step away from each other, but they still don't look away. Damon's cruel smirk has been replaced by a smile of genuine adoration. Elena's soft smile practically screams her feelings. This cannot be happening. They can't do this. They can't feel this. It's…it's…wrong!

Damon is a cold hearted, brutal killer. He can't love. And he certainly can't love my best friend. Elena is too smart to fall for the bad boy. She always has been. Why can't she see through Damon's nice act to the sadistic monster underneath? She can't love him. She loves Stefan. Stefan is safer. Stefan is…less monstrous than his brother. Stefan is almost a decent human being. She has to love Stefan.

But Damon does love Elena. Honestly and truly loves her.

And Elena does love Damon. Honestly and foolishly loves him.

Auras don't lie. Even if they never admit it to themselves or each other, they're in love. Helplessly, eternally, hopelessly in love.

The world tilt on its axis and everything falls down. My best friend is in love with a murderer. With two murderers. I've lost her. She'll never choose me over her Salvatore brothers. And they are hers now. Utterly, completely, _hers_.

I told her I wouldn't make her choose. Now I don't have to. There isn't even a choice for her. Who the hell am I to get in the way of this twisted threesome they're becoming? Now the only choice left is how involved with it I'm willing to become.


	4. Threesome?

**AN: Caroline's turn. Damon's her ex whom she doesn't particularly like. And Elena is one of her best friends. Oh, plus a throw back to episode 12. Woot!**

**Warning: None**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries**

**Threesome?**

That is not Mr. Stefan Salvatore. That is Damon. Damon with Elena, leading her into her and her partner's places. What the hell? Why is he even here?

Elena and Damon bow and begin the dance. I try to keep my eyes on my own replacement date, but it's hard. Damon had been my world when we'd dated. When he broke up with me, I decided to hate him but it's still weird to watch him dance with Elena. The way he looks at her, he never looked at me like that. I was always a convenience to him. He only ever bothered when he wanted something.

But that's not how he's looking at Elena. His pale blue eyes, always so cold when he turned them on me, are soft. His eyes staring into Elena's, searching for some elusive answer to an unasked question. The way he's looking at her right now? I wish he had looked at me like that. Even just once. Like I was his world. The way Elena obviously is.

Don't get me wrong, I love being with Matt. And I don't want to get back together with Damon. I just…I just wish it wasn't so blatantly obvious that he used me without any real thought or care.

And Elena's staring right back at him. Eyes full of affection and trust and want. Apparently that comment about Elena and the Salvatore brothers being a threesome wasn't that far off the mark. Their hands are so much closer than mine and Jeffery's. "The intimacy of the near touch" is right. Damon and Elena are definitely vibing….

Speaking of both brothers, where's Stefan? Shouldn't he be here? Fighting with Damon over Elena or with Elena because of Damon? Shouldn't he be doing something? Stefan may be the nicer brother bur he definitely loves Elena, I can't imagine him just wandering off somewhere so his brother can steal his girl.

Damon pulls Elena closer as the dance changes. She follows his lead gracefully as he guides her through the steps far more smoothly than Jeff or anyone else. He hadn't even gone to a practice, how did he learn how to dance like that?

They're still doing that soul reading through extended eye contact thing. Have they even blinked? And now Elena's smiling a soft little smile at him. And Damon's smiling back just as gently. Not his usual casual smirk, an actual, genuine smile. I've never seen him smile. I wasn't sure he could.

And the dance ends. He steps back from her with hesitant reluctance. She steps back with regretful silence. But Elena's still smiling at him. And Damon's still smiling for her. Just for her.


	5. Fairytales

**AN: Anna's POV. Remember that she and Jer didn't actually _see _the dance. They spent the entire dance talking. She's known Damon for over a century. Reaction to the news that Elena and Damon seem to be intimate…?**

**Warning: None**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries**

**Fairytales**

Damon and Elena? What? No. Elena and Stefan are playing Romeo and Juliet. Damon doesn't bother with that kind of thing. It's not his style. Not since Katherine. And despite the eerie physical similarity, Elena is not Katherine. Not even close.

He danced with her? At the ball? Maybe Jer and I should have gone to watch. It would have been funny to watch him try to lead Elena. They probably spent the entire dance stabbing each other with their eyes and bickering in whispers.

Though, I do kind of want to know why he bothered to step up and replace Stefan. Maybe he thought if he danced with Elena the same sort of dance he'd danced with Katherine, he could relive the moment. A sort of Cinderella moment: Elena is Katherine until the ball ends. God, that is just so sad and pathetic.

I always kind of respected Damon. He was Katherine's whipping boy, sure. But he was a real vampire. He hunted, he killed. He did want was necessary to get what he wanted and everyone else could rot for all he cared.

Now that he knows Katherine didn't even care about him enough to let him know she wasn't dead, he seems…softer. A bit more Stefan, a bit less Katherine. And it's kind of working for him. He's still an arrogant, self-centered ass. Most of the time. But he let a few of the walls down, let himself humanize enough that people could stand to be in the same room as him without compulsion. It's an improvement.

But going so far as to save Elena? As to dancing with her so she wouldn't be humiliated? No. That was all selfishness. It had to be. Damon doesn't bother with all that fairytale crap. He doesn't play the hero who sweeps in at the last minute to save the girl. He enjoys playing the monster of horrors too much to give it up for some…_mortal_.

Damon is a creature of nightmares and darkness. He _likes_ it that way. He isn't going to change teams for a Katherine look alike. It's just not going to happen. I mean, who the hell would Damon Salvatore be if he wasn't the villain of the piece? What would he do if he wasn't slaughtering the innocent with a haughty smirk and dark chuckle?

Stefan. That's who he'd be. And god knows we don't need another one of _those _running around….

**AN2: I didn't mean to Stefan bash there at the end, but in keeping with what I had said about Anna respecting the crueler aspects of Damon's personality, I thought I might go as far as to say she's…disappointed? In what Stefan became and how he chooses to live his eternity.**


	6. Subtext

**AN: Jeremy's turn. He didn't actually watch his sister and Damon. And since Anna's part was really all about Damon. It makes sense that Jer's is all about Elena. She's his sister. And he read her diary. Her confided feeling about Damon MAY have been in there! You never know. Read and maybe you'll find out….**

**Warning: None**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries**

**Subtext**

Elena danced with Damon instead of Stefan at the ball? Huh. Where was Stefan? Did they break up? Is she dating Damon now? What is with this family and vampiric attraction? Seriously. Old Jonathon with Pearl, Elena with Stefan and Damon, me and Anna.

I kinda liked Damon at first. He came over and cooked an awesome dinner and played Call of Duty with me. But that was before I knew what he was. I mean, obviously, I can't just hate him for being a vampire. I am kinda-sorta _almost _dating one. But he hurt my sister. Over and over again. And that makes me dislike him. A lot.

But he saved my sister from the humiliation of not having a partner for the dance. And that kinda makes me want to like him again. Anna says he's changed a lot since he got here. And so does Elena, via her diary of course since she still hasn't told me the whole truth yet.

I'm not sure how I feel about him dating my sister though, _if_ he is dating my sister. There are a lot of reasons Stefan would have had to bail on the ball. There aren't as many that wouldn't need Damon too, but there are enough that I don't need to jump to conclusions about Elena's love life.

I'll just read her diary again tomorrow. Hey, I've already violated her privacy; I might as well keep myself up to date. She lied to protect me, well two can play that game. I can lie too. And use my brother advantage to threaten to kill the bastard if he hurts my sister. Again. And he can't do anything about it because if he kills me Elena will never forgive him…

Elena and Damon dancing. She must have smiled the whole time. That stupid little one that just pulls the corners of her lips up when she doesn't realize she's smiling. And she wouldn't have known. I mean the attraction and way more than friendship feelings Elena clearly has for Damon, it's all subtext. The way they have playful, flirty banter. How Damon always manages to touch her at least once every time they're in the same room. How he offers to help her when there's really nothing in it for him. The times he protected her from other vampires, from the world when it became too much, from himself. Oh yeah, the subtext is there. And it's growing. Now, if only she could see it.

It's so obvious that she managed to fall in love with him that I don't know why she bothers with Stefan at all. I mean, I like the guy; it's just _she _likes Damon better. A lot better. I'm surprised he hasn't noticed. I'm surprised that none of them of noticed. I only read Elena's limited perspective on events and I can see it, why can't they?

Oh, well. It's probably better this way anyway. Stefan is a good guy. He'd never hurt Elena. He's safe and sensible and...okay, he's boring. He'll never last. Damon has already won. Stefan's not even running the race. And Elena doesn't know there _is _a race.

Even if she never hooks up with Damon, I'm glad Elena got to dance with him. It'll be something she can remember about him with that faint, little smile. That when the chips were down and she needed someone, it was Damon, not Stefan, who was there for her. He saved her. For one moment in his eternal night, he played the shining white knight. For her. Only for her.

**AN: Hey, I was thinking of continuing this with Uncle John and Pearl and maybe even Isobel. (I'm assuming John-boy told mummy dearest what Elena got up to.) Feel free to throw out in other names you think would work and I'll try to work on them. Otherwise, this story is just about done...**


	7. Maybe

**AN: Back by popular demand: John seeing Elena dancing with the murderous fiend Damon. Well, **_**that**_** can't end well…**

**Warnings: SPOILERS S01E21,22. If you haven't seen them, don't read.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.**

**Maybe**

Vampires are abominations. I hate them. All of them. Even Isobel, deep down. I hate what she's become. What it did to her. And I will **NOT**, _by God_, allow that to happen to Elena. Not to my daughter. No. Never. I'd rather see her dead.

Better gone with the chance of a better place than here eternally, empty and hollow the way her mother is. The way the beast she's dancing with is.

And why is she dancing with him? Stefan I can at least stomach, he at least tries to be human. I'll still kill him the moment I think he's even considering Turning my daughter, but he's better than his brother. If he left, I wouldn't hunt him down. If I kill him, I won't take any vindictive pleasure in it. When I kill Damon, I won't be able to stop smiling for at least a week.

But Stefan isn't here. He's disappeared and left my beautiful girl alone to face humiliation. And Damon saved her. Bastard. I wonder what sort of angle he's trying to work on her, or his brother.

Now that I think about it, this is the perfect revenge. He'll swoop in and save the girl. Be there for her. Play the role of friend, of confidant, and then he'll do what he feels Stefan did to him: he'll steal the girl. He'll toy with Elena's emotions, jerk her around by her foolishly trusting heart and naïve understanding of the monster he is, and he'll use her until he's done with her.

Damnit, Elena! Stop looking at him like that! He's not the hero of the play, he's the villain! He's a killer. A beast that needs to be put down like a diseased dog. So stop looking at the wolf like he's an adorable puppy you want to take home.

As your father, I absolutely forbid it. You hear me? FORBID it. Never going to happen. Ever.

Damon cannot be redeemed. He cannot be saved. He doesn't want to be. He's a sick, twisted fuck and I won't let you be hurt by him. I won't. I can't.

I can't watch you change the way Isobel did. I won't. It'll kill me.

But Elena can't hear me. And I can't say the words dancing on the tip of my tongue. Isobel and I have a plan and it doesn't involve revealing Elena's parentage to her. Maybe, maybe after I've killed them. Maybe after I've killed Damon and Isobel. Maybe then, I can tell her that I'm her father. Maybe.

But for now, I'll bite my tongue, swallow my words, and watch my precious, only daughter dance with the devil. Because, really, what else can I do?


	8. The Beginning

AN: This one is more about the Salvatore brothers and their relationships with Katherine. Because Pearl doesn't give a hoot about Elena. Or the brothers, really. But Katherine was her best friend way back when. And seeing a Katherine look-a-like doing what she did, has to bring up some memories…

Warnings:

Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.

The Beginning

Hmm. Interesting. It would appear that history does have a way of repeating. Going to a dance with Stefan and leaving with Damon, now why does that sound familiar? Oh, well. This girl isn't Katherine. I have no interest in her affairs. And the Salvatore brothers are only a mild curiosity.

Though, the girl is related to the Gilbert boy that Annabel has become so infatuated with. Perhaps she requires closer observation. Only in so far as her relation with the boy, Anna, and her knowledge of my kind of course. She knows about us. I know that much. Has she told the brother? Does he know that the thing dancing with his sister could snap her in half like a twig before anyone saw him move? That the creature looking into her eyes like there is nothing else in the entire world could cut her open and feast on her life's blood, drain her dry in less than a minute? Does he know that if Stefan could see the way Damon is looking at "his" girl, the fallout from their fight would echo through the centuries the way their battle for Katherine has?

Stefan, the sweet and naïve gentleman. The blatant romantic and overbearing protector. Damon, the fun and risqué soldier. The devoted lover and understanding possessor.

Who could really blame Katherine for toying with both? Who could fault this girl for falling into the same error? Angel-Stefan and Devil-Damon vying for her attention, her affection, her love. How could anyone resist the charms of either brother? And who could fault their hatred? For each had what the other desired.

Stefan won Katherine's love effortlessly with his soft smiles and innocent kisses. Damon won Katherine's love simply with his eagerness to be molded into her creature and the honesty of his devotion. Stefan wished to love as Damon did: purely, with complete acceptance of his lover's many faults. Damon wished to be freed the way Stefan was: compelled into a love he no longer felt because it was never real.

And it's happening again. It's so obvious just from the way Damon dances with her. He's fallen again. A century and a half later, and he's finally over his lost love. But this one is just as doomed. If I wanted to, I'd probably feel something akin to sympathy for his plight. I almost kind of like Damon. In a few centuries, if Stefan doesn't kill him over this mortal, he'll be a vampire of legend. A master of our ways.

Stefan is going to die. Either Damon will kill him or he'll kill himself. But having found what Damon had with Katherine: a true, honest love. And having lost it, the boy will burn. He was never meant to be part of the eternal dark. Katherine should never have Turned him. He is too weak. Too humane. Within the next century his ashes will dust the earth.

And the girl, this Elena Gilbert, she's just as lost. One of the brothers will Turn her, sparking the aforementioned fight. Or they won't, for whatever reason, and she'll die with Stefan surely following quickly after.

That is the destiny for all who fall for the sons of heaven and hell. Katherine was smart, she got out. She escaped the inevitable chaos of their triangle. She simply left them. But, as I said, this girl is not Katherine. She will stay. She will choose. And the brothers will tear apart the world in their anger and hurt and betrayal.

And the immortals will watch in awe as destruction rains downs around the three and their doomed love. And I will watch and remember this day, this dance, as the moment it all began.


	9. Burden

**AN: Mommy dearest doesn't like Elena's choice of dance partners. Also the word "Sire" used in relation to one vampire turning another is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mostly because the relationship between turner and turnee aren't clear at the moment.**

**Warnings:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.**

**Burden**

Oh no. No no no. This is not happening. Elena will not make the same mistake I did. This is my burden to bear. Elena must not carry it too…

Stefan was safe enough. He hates what he is too much to ever Turn someone else. Especially someone he loves. But Damon, Damon would Turn her _because_ he loves her. He would Turn her and I cannot abide by that. I cannot watch my daughter become like me. This is not a choice I will let her make. I don't cae how she feels. I don't care if she loves Stefan. I don't care if she loves Damon. I don't care. She will not be vampire. I will kill anyone and everyone who even thinks to Turn her.

John was furious. Ranting left and right about Damon's bloodied hands on our precious daughter. I told him I would deal with it, but he wants to do it himself. So I'll let him. It's not like i could kill the Salvatores anyway, even if Katherine wouldn't kill me afterwords. I'm too young, they're too old, and Damon is my Sire. I couldn't hurt him even if I wanted to. And after last night's phine call from John, after his vivid description of Damon and my daughter's dance, I definately want to. I really, really, _really _want to.

But I can't. So, I'll have to settle for killing him vicariously through John. What was he thinking? Putting his hands on my daughter? Dancing with my daughter? Loving my daughter? No. It cannot be borne. This monster is everything Elena must not be. He will not taint her with his corruption. He will not seduce her into his, our, world of darkness and blood and death. Elena is meant for better things than this mockery of life. She deserves sunshine and flowers. Happiness and smiles. Children and growng old beside some nice boy who will change and grow into a nice old man. She can't be a part ofthis unlife. She can't.


	10. Salvatore As In Savior

**AN: Dedicted to bluestriker666 for throwing Matt's name into the mix. He didn't see the dance, but come on, you _know _Caroline told him every little detail.**

**Warnings: Matt says "ass" a lot, in reference to Damon. -shrug- It happens.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own he Vampire Diaries and the title of this chapter is totally taken from the books, which I also don't own.**

**Salvatore As In Savior**

Caroline was a chaotic mix of raging and conflicting emotions when she told meabout Elena and Damon's dance. She was jealous and surprised and confused. Me? I'm just...numb.

I don't like Damon. I think he' an ass. I thought so when he was seeing Caroline. I thought so when I started seeing him around Elena. I really thought so when he was making out with my mother. And that seems to be the gerneral consenus: ass. Arrogant, narcissistic, _ass_. But he helped Elena. He didn't have to. There wasn't anything in it for him, cause no way is Elena sleeping with him. Not happening. And that's kinda a not-ass thing to do. Don't get me wrong, I still don't like him. And I'm pretty sure he's still an ass. But maybe he's an ass like Tyler's an ass. A harmless, kinda stupid ass that always does the wrong thing except for when he sometimes, just sometimes, gets it right.

I'm almost glad Stefan and Damon came to Mystic Falls now. They managed to live up to their names: Elena's saviors. Even if I wanted to be the one to do it, I couldn't; but they did. Stefan came and swept Elena's pain and grieve away with a gentle love that even I couldn't resent him for. Damon scooped up everything that frightened her and scared it far, far away. Even a spurned dolt like me can see it, the way those two have become her entire world. She's not shutting us out, but something somewhere changed and the rest of us don't quite fit into her life the way we used to.

She seems to have this whole secret life with the brothers now, hiding something away from the rest of us. There are these moments where she looks at Damon like she's terrified of him, moments where she looks at Stefan like she doesn't know he is. And moments where she looks at Damon like he could be her everything, moments where she looks at Stefan like she's waiting for him to be more.

And I can be okay with that. I can be okay with only knowing half the girl I once knew better than herself. I can let Stefan and Damon swoop in and be her white and black knights. I can be okay with this, with them.

As for Caroline's whole threesome theroy? Ridiculous. Elena would never cheat. And neither Stefan nor Damon look the type to share. Not that I blame them. You either love someone or you don't. And even if you think you love them both, you couldn't hurt someone you love so selfishly. Sometimes love really does mean letting go.

I would know.


	11. Jealous

**AN: Dedicated to Valkyrie-ShapeShifter666 for suggesting this perspective. This one is from Tina Fell, AKA the girl in the pagent whose name ws called before Caroline's. She was there, she saw the dance. And even if she doesn't know Elena or Damon or Stefan she can still see their dance.**

**Warnings:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.**

**Jealous**

Oh wow. That's not Stefan Salvatore. It's Damon. I mean, I don't really know either of them, but the town has been awash with rumors since they came to town. I mean they're both absolutely gorgeous, so of course everybody's talking about them.

Stefan had become a bit a football star from word of mouth, people who had seen him practice regaled the the student body with stories of his apparently amazing catches, dodges, and runs. And Damon is a different kind of star: tales of his cool sexiness and incredible sexual prowess had run rampant after his tryst with Caroline. These were Mystic Falls newest, hottest catches. And, apparently, they both had a thing for Elena Gilbert.

Bitch.

I don't mean that. It's just. She had Matt by the mouth from diapers. Then Stefan only had eyes for her, ignoring the rest of Mystic Falls High's female population. And now, it would seem, she's snagged Damon too. It's not fair. How come Elena gets all the good guys? Though, from what I've heard Damon is only a good guy for her.

And looking at him now, with her. I can believe it. There is just the slightest air of "I could kill you if I wanted to" swirling around him. Just the slightest darkness hidden in surprisingly beautiful icy blue eyes. I can believe that he is not a good person. I can believe the horror stories circulating about the multitude of girls leaving the Salvatore boarding house with dark bleeding bruises and smilely grins. Funny how Stefan was never considered suspect.

But watching Damon dance with Elena in Stefan's stead (where is he anyway?), the ominous yet playful quality of the older Salvatore has mysteriously disappeared. In it's place is this soft, almost vulnerable look. A gentle smile on his face. Pure unadulterated love shinning in his blue depths. I look into the eyes of my own boyfriend. He's not looking at me like that.

And I'm jealous. I want someone to look at me like he's looking at her. Like his world would end if I wasn't in it. I want to look at someone like she's looking at him. Like the sky could be falling down around our heads and it wouldn't matter because I was with him.

I want what Elena has.

But, then, I probably don't. Because she's still dating Stefan. The school would have exploded with news if they had broken up. And I saw the way she was with him at practice yesterday. They're still together, still in love. Even if it's blatantly obvious she's absolutely in love with his brother too. And that's a situation I don't envy. A love triangle of the messiest order.


	12. Mine

**AN: Dedicated to ****VampireExpert101**** who listed Katherine has someone who would definitely be interested in the Delena dance when the thought had never even crossed my mind. It really should have, though, she's a pretty obvious choice when you think about it. Drop me a REVIEW. I love getting 'em. They make me smile like a moron for hours. :)**

**OH! And everyone check out my story "The Dead, They Sleep". It's a one-shot detailing the fight I mentioned back in ch 8. It's been called "powerful" and "painfully tragic" in reviews. So give it a read, yeah?**

**Warnings: Mild Language, Katherine is **_**not**_** well pleased. Might be OC, I don't really know how Katherine acts, but they said she was selfish and spoilt, so…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries. **

**Mine**

Oh no. No, no, no, no. This is simply unacceptable. Damon is my creature. Always has been, always will be. And this little look-a-like _whore_ will not steal him away from me.

It doesn't matter that I left him a century ago, he's _mine_. Both of them, Stefan too. All mine. Mine to with as I see fit. Mine to have. Mine to leave. Mine to take back. Mine. Mine. Mine. MINE.

How dare he touch her like that! How dare he look at her the way he once looked at me. How dare he even contemplate forgetting me for even a second. I _made_ him. I gave him purpose. I gave him eternal life. Eternal night. To spend pining for my love. To spend desiring and missing me. To spend as my little bitch, suffering whatever torments I decide to put him through while he stares at me with soft puppy eyes.

The eyes he's now turned to Elena as he embraces her so tenderly to dance. Traitorous bastard. Unfaithful asshole. Our relationship is only open on my end, he must remain loyal. Those are the rules. I get to make the rules. He must remember that.

I made the rules a century and a half ago when I chose to have both brothers, and I make the rules now. His life is mine to do with what I will. I made him for no other purpose.

He is my plaything. My lover. My devoted little puppy, following at my heels and content with whatever scraps of affection decreed to toss at his feet. He is _mine_. And no one takes my things away from me.

She taken my face, my town, my boys. She is simply a hollow image. She isn't me. She will never have the hold over Damon that I do. She will never take him from me. He'll take one look at the real thing and forget that he ever felt anything for this copycat.

Because they're mine, not hers. Utterly and completely mine. Always have been. They've merely forgotten. And that I will make them regret. No one forgets Katherine Pierce. Not once I've gotten my claws into them. And I certainly have my claws in Damon and Stefan. Especially Damon, the foolishly dashing mortal that had so eagerly clammored for death. To spend eternity in my dark embrace. Damon has been mine from the moment I interrupted his game of football to this moment now.

I own him, body and soul.

This day, this dance, that adoring look in his eye and the smile I'm sure he hasn't smiled since I left him, they mean nothing. Because Damon loves me.

Because Damon is _mine_.


	13. History Repeating

**AN: Dedicated to bluestriker666, who supplied the perfect situation for Stefan to find out about Damon and Elena's dance, and Brittany, who first suggest Stefan's POV. Thanks. This takes place at some point after S01E21 "Isobel" but before the finale. The people in charge of the pagent sent out videos to everyone who was registered for the dance, including Stefan. Uh-oh...**

**Warnings: Swearing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries.**

**History Repeating**

She didn't tell me. And I try to assure myself that it's because it slipped her mind. Because she was too busy worrying about me for some stupid dance to matter. I keep trying to tell myself that.

But the video the celebration's committee sent makes it glaringly obvious that she's not thinking about me at all. She's dancing with him. And she's smiling. I've never seen that smile before. So soft and hesitant. So happy and unburdened.

So in love.

How could she do this to me? She was mine. And I know I don't own her, but...I thought she wanted to be mine. To be wrapped up in my strong, protective, immortal embrace. Forever. I thought we were soulmates, if I _have _a soul. I thought she loved me more than the sun and the moon. I thought she wanted to be with me. To be mine.

I see how close she presses to him during the dance. So eager for his touch. Looking at him with eyes free from the constant worry and tinge of sadness that I had thought had become a permanent part of who she is now. Looking at him as if there is nothing else in the entire world. Looking at him...the way I realize she never looked at me.

And Damon. That bastard. "History will not be repeating itself, where Elena is concerned." I had warned him. "Sure, sure. Whatever you say, man. We're just friends." he had blown me off. But I had trusted him. I had believed him. I believed him while he lied to my face!

He saved her. I should be thankful. He swooped in and saved her from the ridicule of being alone. But I can't be. Because it's as plain as night that he loves her. The look on his face, the one I haven't seen since Katherine was still alive. Since before she started playing puppetmaster with his heart strings. And I _know_.

He _loves _her.

She's drawn a real smile from his twisted smirking face. She's lighted his eyes with caring adoration.

She _loves _him.

He's painted a secret smile on her lips. He's removed the pain from her beautifully saddened eyes.

They're _in love_.

They've been in love with each other for a long time. How long? Since the Tomb? Atlanta? Before even then?

How could this happen? How could they do this to me? How could I let this happen? I know what kind of monster Damon is, what kind of man. How could I even consider letting him anywhere near my fragile, beloved Elena? How could I have trusted him with her? How could I have believed him when he told me he didn't want to steal her from me?

How could I let history repeat itself?


	14. At Some Point

**AN: Elena's turn. I was originally going to do a separate fic called "The Pieces of You and Me" for Elena and Damon's POVs of the dance, but I think that's turning into something different…You should still read it though. Yay for shameless product placement! Review! DO IT! :[ -"Stern" face.**

**Warnings: None**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.**

**At Some Point**

At some point, I'm going to get over the stupid butterflies in my stomach. The butterflies reserved solely for Stefan's tender looks and gentle touches. At some point, I'm going to look away from these mesmerizing blue eyes and focus on something else, anything else. At some point, I'm going to start worrying about my MIA boyfriend who's fighting a blood addiction from hell. At some point, I'm going to stop praying to every god ever worshipped by man for the demon leading this dance to touch me.

At some point.

The tempo changes and he's tugging me gently closer, one hand twining perfectly with mine, the other firm and strong against my back. A smile has slipped through the arrogant smirk permanently etched into his features and, my god, it's beautiful. Heartbreaking and honest. At some point, I'll remember that this is my boyfriend's brother and stop imagining kissing those smiling lips.

At some point.

His eyes, always so cold and distant, are alight with what can only be described as joy. They're soft and tender instead of hard and aloof. They sing a thousand sorrows and shout a hundred delights. They say so much and so little and I'm still left wondering what he's hiding in their icy depths. It's breathtaking and I can't look away. At some point, I'll realize I'm staring, lost, in the wrong eyes.

At some point.

His touch is feather light, but not hesitant. Steady and strong, but not overbearing. It's a nice change. He guides me effortlessly through the steps he danced before anyone else here was even born. He leads me naturally, having no difficulties despite the fact that we've never danced together before. A fact I'm beginning to regret.

"Elena, would _you_ like to dance?" he had asked. And foolishly, stupidly, I had taken Stefan's arm instead. At some point, I'll remember that I took Stefan's arm because I'm madly in love with him, not his brother.

At some point.

At some point, this beautifully revealing song will end. At some point, his real smile will fade away into his smirking mask. At some point, those painfully beautiful, happy-sad eyes will harden into the frigid orbs that I've become accustomed to seeing. At some point, the only touch I'll feel from him will be accidental or teasing. At some point, I'll stop regretting chosing Stefan. At some point, I'll realize this is the other brother. At some point, I'll convince myself that I don't love Damon in ways I can't even imagine loving Stefan.

At some point.

Maybe.


	15. Heartbeat for the Dead

**AN: Good news, good news, bad news time. Good News: it's Damon's Chapter! More Good News: it's the longest chapter, nearly twice as long as the others. Bad News: it's also the last chapter. I've officially run out of characters to toy with. REVIEW, it's your LAST chance! Here endith "It Was Just a Dance".**

**Warnings: There's a GD in there somewhere, but I think that's it…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.**

**A Heartbeat for the Dead**

Stefan is an idiot. How could he leave this beautiful girl standing alone? This stunning girl prepared to face humiliation for _his_ mistake. This girl who, despite my _vastly _superior looks and cunning wit, chose him. The girl hovering on the precipice of immortality simply to be with him.

The love of his life actually wants him, wants nothing more than his happiness; to be the source of his happiness. Moron. Mine, if she _was _ever mine, left me. Didn't care enough to let me know in a hundred and forty-five years that she wasn't even dead. And my second chance, the love I've just started to find, to feel for? Yeah, she chose him.

And he's letting her down. _Again_.

I force my way through the crowd quickly, and take Stefan's place at the foot of the stairs. I may not be the white knight saving the damsel in distress, that's Stefan's gig. When he doesn't screw it up, that is. But I can do this. I can be what she needs this time. I can dance with her while Stefan does his stupid "I'm so tortured" act and cries about how his inability to tell the goddamned truth is destroying his relationship with the one girl who could bear to the burden of honesty. Again. Dumbass.

"Where's Stefan?" She whispers, and it hurts a little to know that even when I'm trying to do right, he's still the only thing on her mind.

"I don't know." I answer. Because I don't. And I don't care because he was the fool who left this beautiful creature alone and I intend to savor every second of this dance.

It's my last chance at a second chance. I know she'll never choose me. I'm flawed and broken where Stefan is "perfect" and whole. I am the jagged remains of a broken heart that loved a love that lived for lifetimes and died painfully in seconds. Stefan is the brooding, regretful statue carved from a love imposed on his will. I'm dangerous and untrustworthy. Stefan is safe and reliable. I'm a murderer. Stefan is the same has any human; he just doesn't need a gun to hunt his prey.

The dance begins and she's _so_ close. A fraction of a motion and I could touch her. Touch her soft, delicate hands with my own bloody appendages. But that's not the point of this part of the dance. "The intimacy of the near touch" How about the pain of wanting something so desperately you think your heart might start to beat again, only to realize that you will _never _have it? The best I can hope for is the hollow imitation of this dance. She'll be worrying about Stefan and I'll be trying to show her that if she could just _see_ me for once as more than a monster or a creature to be pitied, I could be the one to never leave her stranded.

The music shifts and I reach out and pull her to me. She fits perfectly in my arms. I can hear her heart hammer in her chest. Her chocolate eyes never stray from my blues and I forget how to breathe. It's okay, because I don't actually _need _to, but still. She's looking at me. Really looking at me. As _me_. For once she doesn't see Stefan's murderous brother or Katherine's rejected plaything. She's seeing Damon Salvatore, the man under the monster.

I lead her like we were born to dance together, just like this. I memorize every line of every feature of her smile. The smile she's smiling for me. I commit the feeling of her hand in mine to memory; already preparing to replay it over and over again as the best moment of my very long life comes to a close. The music slows and we begin to part. My god, I miss the feel of her already.

Her eyes never stray from mine though. And her body still hums with excitement and, dare I say it, joy. I cannot bear to even think of breaking this beautiful, tenuous connection. This moment where understanding changes into something…_more_.

My last chance might not have been a wasted effort after all. There is a chance, a hope. For a second, I allow myself to believe that this time I won't end up agonized and broken. For just a second, I pretend to hear my long dead heart beat. A slow steady tattoo in perfect balance with hers. A heartbeat for the dead, just for her.


End file.
